Pinellas, FL – Wells Fargo Foundation has awarded Habitat for Humanity of Pinellas and West Pasco Counties with a $15,000 grant to build two affordable homes in Pinellas Park and Saint Petersburg. The funding is part of an $8.1 million donation to Habitat for Humanity International for capacity building and direct mission support to build, renovate and repair more than 350 affordable homes across the United States. The grant is provided through Wells Fargo Builds℠ and is part of the Wells Fargo Foundation’s $1 billion philanthropic commitment to create more housing affordability solutions by 2025.
“We’ve had a rich history of working with Habitat Pinellas and West Pasco to strengthen our neighborhoods through philanthropy and volunteerism,” said Steven Schultz, Region Bank President. “Safe and stable housing enables people to build upon the rest of their life and, together, we can shift the narrative to help others understand that housing affordability is both an economic and humanitarian crisis that’s taking a toll on millions of people.”
Wells Fargo Builds provides philanthropic financial assistance from the Wells Fargo Foundation to support the construction, renovation, painting or repairing of homes with low-to-moderate income households. In 2019 alone, Wells Fargo employees volunteered more than 1.9 million hours of service to strengthen their communities, including building, repairing, and improving 674 homes across the U.S. with several organizations through Wells Fargo Builds.
“Thanks to our partnership with Wells Fargo, more deserving families in our community will have the opportunity to secure safe and affordable housing, which is needed now more than ever,” said Mike Sutton, President and CEO of the Pinellas and West Pasco affiliate. “The support of Wells Fargo throughout the years has strengthened our communities, and we look forward to future partnerships on and off the build sites.”
The grant will support the construction of two homes for the Bryant and Woodard families. Dionate Bryant, a Human Services Counselor and mother of two, says, “I was excited and proud of the hard work I did to get accepted into the Habitat program. I knew the program took a lot of hard work, and I was ready to learn how to become a successful homeowner. Acceptance into this program means my children will always have a place to call home.”
Latrivette Woodard, a Certified Nursing Assistant, is working towards homeownership for her three children, and two grandchildren. “I will now be paying for something that is mine. I won’t have to deal with landlords, or the rising cost of rent. This will be my kid’s forever home, and something they can look back on, and say that their mom did that. I am looking forward to decorating, and having the comfort of having a home,” said Latrivette.
